Ridiculous and Subjective Top 5 Lists
Top 5 military planes of all time
5. The Soviet Tupolev Tu-95 ‘Bear’
The Tu-95 entered service in 1956 and is expected to serve the Russian Air Force until at least 2040. Archetypal Soviet thinking made this bigger and meaner. No need for jet engines here. The 35° angle swept-back wings are equipped with four turboprop engines driving contra-rotating propellers. With tips moving faster than the speed of sound, it gets points for style and defining noise. The Soviets want you to hear them coming to bomb the hell out of you.
4. The Lockheed U-2
This American-made spy plane is the ultimate peeping tom. Built for ultra-high altitude, the U-2 is the quintessential Cold War aircraft and the ultimate spy gadget for any aspiring would-be James Bond. It served the US military and CIA for more than 50 years, and this bad boy almost kicked off World War III, and all it needed was a camera.
3. The Hawker Hurricane
This WWII British fighter is all guts and no glory. Built across the span of the Dominion from Britain to Canada, it was this workhorse that got the Allies through the dark days of the War. Up until 1943, it was the backbone of the RAF / RCAF. The Hurricane took home 60% of the kills in the Battle of Britain, without even asking for a thank-you. The Spitfire and Mustang get the glory and came on the scene big when the war had turned for the Allies, but it was the Bad ass Hurricane that got them there and did so with unquestioning and deadly badassery. No need for thanks that’s just what the Hurricane does.
2. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat
The plane that brought us Maverick and Goose, that’s Top Gun bitches. Top Gun aside what makes the F-14 a real peach is the Iranian connection. This goes down as one of the all-time best examples of political bullshit ever recorded – you can’t make this stuff up. Iran had F-14s when the revolution hit, and guess what…while all those US politicians (Republicans, I am looking your way) were yelling and screaming about Iran and were taking campaign money from US arms manufacturers, which they passionately defended, these companies were supplying the Iranians with replacement parts! It was not until 2007 the US stepped in and put a stop to their program of resupplying the Axis of Evil with spare parts. With that the Iranian maintenance program has become quite a bitch and their star planes an anchor dragging their Air Force into the dirt.
1. The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
A.K.A. The ‘Warthog’
The A-10, the Hog, the bringer of doom, is a giant flying gun whose only job is to destroy anything that bothers US ground forces. From Tanks to Taliban, the Hog will chew it up with gusto. The A-10 was literally built around a cannon in order to make a gun fly. The A-10 is not merely armed with the definition of overkill, the 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon; it is a flying weapons platform of death. The Hog not only makes a cannon airborne, but it’s basically indestructible and can take punishment as good as it gives it, shake it off and head home. It has been described as sounding as if “god is tearing the sky a new one,” and when you hear the “BBRRrrrrrtttt,” it’s game over.